khaug

In 20+ years as a performance driving instructor, my least-favorite car has been the Corvette. The cars almost invariably lose their brakes when the brakes are used correctly, and are way less than robust in other areas, particularly engine oil and tranny temps. I've become amazed at the cavalier attitude toward these shortcomings displayed by Corvette drivers ("300 F isn't so bad for an oil temp"), as well as the gonadal approach to driving displayed by a dismaying number of Corvette (and Viper) drivers.

It's a relief to be assigned a student in a Porsche at a DE event: You know the car's going to be capable and that there's a better-than-average chance that the driver is going to take a "I'm here to learn" approach, rather than an, "I already know how to do this, so f**k off" attitude.

I had hopes in looking at the specs for the new Z06 that, (A) It might be up to the task it's promoted to be capable of, and (B) It might appeal to more folks who approach performance driving from a need-to-learn perspective. In fact, I semi-seriously considered buying a Z06 (for about one week). Seems I was too optimistic.

I'm not surprised to find that the Z06 can outdo the GT3 by a couple of tenths/sec. After all, it has about twice the displacement (and, GASP, less weight,). What I'm sure of is that the GT3 will return superior performance in reliability in a track environment, and cost-per-track-mile over the long term. For the C/D test, I'm just pleased to see the sub-4 sec 0-60 time and the 12 sec flat 1/4 mile time!

Regards,

-Karl.

Instructor for: TrackTime Performance Driving Schools (RIP!), Trackmasters, PCA, BMW CCA

trumperZ06

Having driven both an 01 & an 04 Z06 for over 50,000 miles each, I have been pleased with the Corvette's reliability & performance. Both cars had NO major mechanical problems. It's best to keep the engine... stock.

My cars are daily drivers that are also used for instructing at D E Events. We do 13 or so events/year, approx. 30 track days. The Z06's seem to be the most popular car for instuctors in my region.

We added a Rippe combo oil cooler/radiator and kept the oil temps. at ~ 260 F.

Also added Rippie brake cooling ducts... rotors last ~ 2 days.. but for the C-5's are ~ $28.00 each at your local Napa dealer.

Parts for my new 07 Z06 are limited... but big brake kits are available. We will be installing a kit next week. The 07 Z06's come with coolers... so I don't expect any problems with oil or tranny temps.

GM added insulation & sound deadening to the 07... as well as improvig the dampers. I will let you know more after we do three days at Road Atlanta in early March.

Apex GT

trumper, as the past owner of a C5 Rippie RsR I will concur with the Corvettes performance and reliability, AFTER all the upgrades have been done! The car however is totally a different animal as you already know. The most significant observation I can share would be stability at 150MPH especially if the car becomes unsettled due to track surface. The GT3 is more settled and confidence inspiring.

BTW, I still have most of the components from the Z car in my shed.

trumperZ06

Thanks for your comments, Apex & Nordschleife !!!

The C-5 06 was basicly a stock C-5 Corvette.... with up-graded suspension and motor. Most parts were inter-changable... really reducing costs.

The C-6 Z06 is... soooo much different from the stock C-6 that it's almost a completely different model. Looking at my new Z06 on a lift... the number of Z06 specific parts (id. with felt marker), really stand out. On the new Z06...All attanching bolts and fittings were double-checked and signed off with a paint stripe.

The LS7 Z06 engine shares nothing in common with the standard C-6's LS2.

The tranny and rear-end are different, and everyone knows about the aluminium frame and suspension.

About the only inter-changable parts are in the interior.

Early C-6 Z06's had the normal new model gremlins... the upper valve-train and oil pump problems. The "detachable roof" has been corrected... leaving the brakes as the remaining issue.

I expect the new Z06 to hold up as well or better than the C-5 version... time will tell.

Cya @ the track,

Trumper

Carrera GT

Is it possible to install coil-overs?

frayed

I think c/o's are a common upgrade on these cars, at least for the C5 Z06.

Apex GT

Carrera GT, I can only comment on the C5 as I did the coil over conversion with both Rippie spec as well as LG motorsports. And yes it is a significant performance mod as it allows for more application specific adjustability. I would suspect these after market performance part guys are all over the C6?

wayne993

Luke, when people are saying "the brakes go away", they are talking about
the 200th hard brake application while going full bore on a track for an
hour. When C/D says "the brakes are awesome" they are talking about
the first application of brakes. Although everyone is writing about "brakes",
a closer inspection reveals they are not discussing exactly the same thing.

As for stopping distance, there are probably 15 factors that go into stopping
distance. You have homed in on a (admittadly important) single one.

Mike Murphy

I'm glad that you are posting balanced (fair) information on here. I am a Porsche guy today, but I grew up a Chevy lover when I was a kid. I've never driven a C6 or ZO6 and would love to. I used to work indirectly for GM, so I understand what kind of talent the Corvette team really has.

In my opinion, Porsche hasn't increased the hp/lb enough in the GT3 to compete with the Big Boys (Mercedes, Chevy, Dodge). Porsche doesn't know how to do Big and Bold, and quite frankly, that's what we love about Porsche. But if they wish to compete with Corvette, they'll have to add power and displacement or drop some weight.

I would like see a long-term test carried out from C/D with the ZO6, because you know those guys will beat on that car for the 40,000 miles non-stop. Any reliability issues will probably come up in a long-term test.

icon

not necessarily . . . they could do both!
at least that's what i would like to see since all the safety requirements preclude them from dropping a significant amount of weight.

bnkrupt

why would they do this? The car has great fuel economy and the engine is extremely light weight. What would decreasing displacement accomplish?

renngt2

The Z06 is $43K cheaper (as tested, 37K cheaper base) 60lbs lighter, and uses run flat goodyears compared to near R Sport Cups on the GT3.

Lets not forget modifying and maintaining the Chevy is much cheaper than the Porsche.

Both of these cars will lose $30K after a couple of years so the resale argument is moot.

Time to suck it up and give Chevy their due. The only upcoming Porsche that will be faster is the GT2, and that will probably be nearly twice the cost of the upcoming "Blue Devil"...

BrokenE

So Murph... what turned you on to Porsche? Just curious.

Anyway, the way I see it, yes Chevy should be commended for Z06. However as "bad" as the Vette is, it's still what I call a low ball offering. I mean you have to add all sorts of stuff to get it up to snuff for track events. If you consider this into the equation then the costs are not so far apart. Chevy can get away with this since most of the Z06's will be used in stop light competition, for which you don't really need all the upgrades.

But Porsche should be commended as well. One of Ferry's main requirements or philosophies was to build a car that could be diven competently on the track then driven home. I think this is the best iteration yet of the 911 in those terms. It's a truly beautiful car.

As for Car & Driver, I'm replacing that subscription with Total 911.

Alan Smithee

While it is indeed impressive, that the Z06 is lighter with a giant 7L lump is also a feat of engineering (or, dare I say it, a lack thereof on Porsche's part?)

Carrera GT

There's too many line items to address to hang it all on the engine.
I just don't agree that the 7.0 is impressive at 505hp (the 505 number stands alone as a lot of fun, but resorting to that much displacement (and I read somewhere they tried an 8.0) isn't anything to write home about.
Somewhere there's confirmation from GM they're working on a mega-Vette which might even be blown, I didn't exactly read the detail. And the idea is to beat the Ford GT (and use the work Ford has done to wake up the market to the idea of a competitor from Detroit giving Ferrari and Porsche a run for their money in the $100K+ market.)
I was interested in the Z06 but couldn't get past the cabin and the loose ends in engineering. If they went to say a 5.0 without forced induction and kept about the same HP with higher rpm limits, that would be appealing. A great weapon in the GT3 arsenal is the ability to (usefully) rev to 8400rpm, affording many opportunity to be in the "right" gear and avoid a brief upshift or avoid a mid-turn shift etc.
And Chev should go to their race team customers and look at what they do with the shifter, brakes and steering (as should Porsche ... and get rid of the variable rack and PASM.)
If Chev went to a more appealing engine, went to coil-overs and jetisonned the 80's Camaro cabin and parts bin sharing with their base model econo boxes, they'd have something I'd consider in the $75K range. But that's just me and I'm dumb enough to fork over $120K+ for the GT3 ... : )

Looking back over that review, the GT3 did a lot better than I realised from my first impression of the numbers.